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4 Gonz. L. Rev. 101 (1968-1969)
Government

handle is hein.journals/gonlr4 and id is 103 raw text is: GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATIVE LAW Constitutional Limitation on Statutory Authority An applicant, who was not a certified plumbing contractor, was denied a permit to do some plumbing work in a dwelling be- cause it was not occupied by him. The applicant argued that he intended to comply with the code standards' and that the require- ment that a homeowner must be licensed to do work on his own premises, merely because he intends to rent rather than occupy the premises, was not reasonably related to the public health, and there- fore unduly restricted his lawful activity upon private property, in violation of the due process provisions of the United States Constitution and the Washington State Constitution.2 The Washington Supreme Court, in State ex rel. Rhodes v. Cook, 72 Wash. Dec. 2d 431, 433 P.2d 677 (1967), held that the refusal of a license was not a violation of the landowner's rights, and that the denial of the permit was a proper exercise of the police power, in the interests of public health and safety.3 The court relied upon the standard position that facts justifying a reg- ulation are presumed to exist, if such facts can be reasonably pre- sumed. In effect, the court argued that the ruling was reasonable, in that homeowners working on dwellings occupied by their own families would tend to perform their work more carefully than when doing the same work for strangers. The court discounted the defendant's counter-argument that he was willing to have an inspector certify the final work product. The reasoning is that there is no practical means to perform a thorough check of the work methods used. If, however, the workman is certified and thus theoretically qualified, his work methods are more likely to be consistent with good workmanship. Therefore, it is reasonably re- lated to the public health and safety to require certification of the licensee where the work is done on a dwelling unit not that of the worker. Statutory Authority Does a municipal ordinance apply to privately owned prop- erty? In City of Seattle v. Wright, 72 Wash. Dec. 2d 546, 433 P.2d 1 Uniform Plumbing Code, (1961 ed.), promulgated by the Western Plumbing Officials Association. 2 U.S. CONST. amend. XIV; WASH. CONS'. art. I, § 3. 3 City of Tacoma v. Fox, 158 Wash. 325, 290 P. 1010 (1930). 101